'Flower avenue': NDMC decks 500m concrete central verge on Barakhamba Rd with petunia

New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decked with petunia a half-kilometre stretch of concrete central verge on Barakhamba Road, civic body vice chairman Satish Upadhyay said.

Petunia flower has a variety of colours and long lifespan, thus chosen for the beautification initiative, he said. It is also less leafy and much flowery with a sufficient period of blooming till May.

"Barakhamba Road is surrounded by office buildings that are full of hustle and bustle. That is why NDMC has taken an initiative by using new techniques to develop planters on the concrete surface between carriageways without any digging work," he said. Upadhyay appreciated the horticulture department's efforts in creating this kind of initiative as the whole path is on a concrete base.

"NDMC is planning to develop and maintain this flower avenue concept for the whole year. The whole work is completed in-house by the civic body's horticulture department except pre-fabrication with very nominal cost," he said. According to horticulture department officials, the depth of the soil in these planters is six to eight inches and width is two metres, having two layers. "The first layer of geo-textile and second layer green-texture have a quality to not allow soil to go out. It will only allow water to go outside in case of excess giving," a senior NDMC official said.